puhkawn,

Your concern for the small business owners sounds valid and sincere. I was once a business owner myself and can attest to "the law of unintended consequences."

However, we wouldn't want to throw renewables out the window due to the way utilities currently bill if there were some other reasonable solution. Is there the possibility of metering reform of some type that could overcome this problem?

In a way, one can see how it would be to the utilities advantage to stick in as many meters as possble, and then bill the business owner for any and all changes "per meter". The utilities would then have veto power over any attempt at renewables right from the start if this is allowed. It is for this reason that some businesses in the U.S. are going off grid, even if they have to pay a bit more for fuel, because the tacked on fees and expenses of dealing with the electric utility simply become more than the business owner wants to or is able to bear.

RC